Welcome To The Time Stamp Jungle

I’m cracking up with laughter after breaking a story about Steve Kloves writing and directing The Jungle Book. Only to see Variety claiming to have broken the story at 11:39 AM. I was watching their website, and the story didn’t pop up until 11:59 AM, a full 20 minutes after the trade tried to claim the story. Variety made a big deal about Sundance, when Deadline popped an “exclusive” tag on the Fox Searchlight deal for The Surrogate, with the trade claiming they broke the story. The exclusive part for Deadline was revealing that Searchlight paid $6 million, which made it the biggest deal of the festival. While Variety had a two sentence item that Searchlight was in talks (this was hardly big news, we were all chasing that rumor), the trade was disingenuous by not owning up to the fact that their reporters did not report the whopping acquisition price, until after they read it on Deadline. Our time stamp corresponds to the moment you see a story on our website, not 20 minutes before it actually appears.

14 Comments

Frank Zappa • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

Frank Zappa once said something along the lines of – “Life is like high school with money.” Articles like this make me smile because they reinforce that so well.
“I did it first!”
“No, you didn’t! I did it first!”
“You suck!”
“No, you suck!”
“I’m telling my mom!”
“Whatever!”

Nobody • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

Literally no one cares. The entire town doesn’t care. The entire world doesn’t care. You could run down the street screaming this at the top of your lungs and no one would bat an eye. No. Body. Cares. I have come to grips with the fact that when I die, I will look back on the time I spent typing this comment and wish I had it back. I’m okay with that. I really, really am.

Cheese • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

good for you

Spence • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

Really? Who CARES? Be a site that gives us news not tries to be cock of the walk.

charlie sh33n • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

Nobody cares. Seriously.

MD • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

I care!

Oh no, wait…the other thing. Don’t care.

FTCS • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

Variety is for sale. Deadline is cooking.

Mike, I agree with other posts…take the high road.

W. Cronkite • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

Now, THIS is what I call journalism.

D. Rather • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

Take the day off. You’ve earned it.

Mouse • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

[Christian Bale] Ohhhhh! Goooood for yooouuuu![/Christian Bale]

No one cares about this “TOLDJA!” / “FIRST!” crap.

Doc Brown@Variety • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

Mike you are forgetting that Peter Bart has a secret time machine that he uses to post scoops before you post them. I should know he paid me to build him this time machine. :)

killertv • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

Hollywood Reporter doesn’t say anything when half their exclusives end up on your website after the trade hits the mail but before people get to the office. Why do you really care about this? Or do you really care more about being able to point it out? Hope you have more things to do than watch the Variety website

If I were going to give them the benefit of the doubt, I’d say that maybe, just maybe, the person wrote up the story and that’s when they saved it, but it required someone’s approval or whatever before it was posted.

When I’ve blogged, I’ve noticed the time stamp in WordPress used to (does it still?) put the time a post was started.

That said… there’s a reason that people who really want their finger on the pulse read your site and your Twitter stream religiously. Thanks for all the hard work for so long to keep us all informed!

Spacelamb • on Apr 27, 2012 12:10 pm

A bit surprised by all the comments mocking/criticising Deadline for mentioning this issue. A competitor is lying about scoops, Mike points this out, and Deadline are the bad guys? He wrote one mild paragraph, not a four-page rant.